Chief minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday launched KEO, a compact, open-source personal computer developed and manufactured within the state, priced at ₹18,999 and designed to bring artificial intelligence capabilities to students, engineers, and households across urban and rural areas.
The device, launched at the Bengaluru Tech Summit 2025, is the product of a collaboration between the state’s department of electronics, information technology (IT) & biotechnology (BT) and the Karnataka State Electronics Development Corporation Limited (KEONICS). It runs on an indigenous RISC-V processor fabricated by a Bengaluru semiconductor company and features an on-device AI core that operates offline.
State IT-BT minister Priyank Kharge called the machine “India’s most affordable artificial intelligence personal computer.”
“It is the most compact, powerful AI device in India right now, and it is completely based on open source,” Kharge said at a briefing. “Nowhere in the world can you build such a device for ₹18,999.”
He explained that global supply-chain disruptions stemming from U.S.-China tensions had driven up memory prices during development, but added that the market was now stabilizing and the state planned to lower the price further once components returned to normal price levels.
Kharge said the initiative has already won backing from two of Karnataka’s best-known techno-industrialists. “Infosys co-founder Kris Gopalakrishnan and Biocon chief Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw were impressed with the device and have already placed orders to sponsor units for schools across the state,” he told reporters.
{{/usCountry}}Kharge said the initiative has already won backing from two of Karnataka’s best-known techno-industrialists. “Infosys co-founder Kris Gopalakrishnan and Biocon chief Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw were impressed with the device and have already placed orders to sponsor units for schools across the state,” he told reporters.
{{/usCountry}}State data show that only 15% of households in Karnataka own a computer, compared with less than 10% nationally. Officials argue that while smartphones are nearly universal, computers remain indispensable for coding, academic assignments, and sustained online learning. More than 60% of Indian students have reported difficulty participating in digital classes because they lacked a suitable device.
Pre-orders began Tuesday on the KEONICS website. KEONICS Chairman Sharath Kumar Bache Gowda said Japanese women entrepreneurs who saw a demonstration have expressed interest in funding the project.